Looking for the meaning

Its always satisfying when you download your photos from camera to computer and find that what you thought was a quick, passable grab shot actually works much better than you'd hoped. This photo is a prime example of this phenomenon - I saw the guys and fired off a few frames hoping for a decent result. The men are classic example of Scottish/ British men during a domestic heatwave - get your top off and sit down in a public place. Do what you would do on any normal day, but with your nipples showing. So, my plan was a shoot a covert photo, picture postcard stuff, nothing too cerebral.

However, when I looked at this full-sized I was delighted that I had somehow managed to get something with a bit more meaning. There is an obvious sense of isolation for the man on the left of the frame, who looks pensive and introverted. The camera blur on his cronies conveys something quite sinister and further sets him aside - they are lumped together as one, a gaggle, hoods, bit-players. If this was a film he would be the hero.

Now, I had no intention of capturing any of this when I took the photo, I was walking past and shot from the hip as quickly as possible. It's amazing how much can be read into one chance frame and it makes me wonder if any celebrated shots had a similar beginning before they were deconstructed, criticised and elevated to universal acclaim. (Disclaimer: I'm only drawing this one parallelI and I am in no way classing this as a 'celebrated shot'. But it would be nice if someone else did.)